Quick charge control apparatus and control method thereof

ABSTRACT

A apparatus for quick charging either a Nickel-Cadmium battery or a Nickel-Metal hydride battery. An adaptor/charger is comprised of a constant current circuit for maintaining a constant charging current, a switching circuit for switching a current value of this constant current circuit, and a microcomputer for effecting several controls. In the initial stage of the quick charge, the microcomputer causes the charging current to be increased in steps every predetermined period. The quick charge control apparatus is further provided with a switch to discern whether the secondary battery is a Nickel-Cadmium battery or a Nickel-Metal hydride battery so that the identification of the completion of charge is changed corresponding to each type of battery.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a quick charge control apparatus and a control method thereof in order to charge a secondary battery such as a Ni-Cd (Nickel-Cadmium) battery or a Ni-MH (Nickel-MH, wherein MH is a metal hydride) battery.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a constant current is used in quick charging the secondary battery. According to a conventional technique, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Laid-open No. 103127/1990, a predetermined large amount of charging current is applied at an initial stage of a quick charge, and a full charge is recognized by detection of -ΔV that is the detection of a drop in the terminal voltage of the battery from a peak value by a predetermined voltage of ΔV. Upon detection of the fully charged state, the operation of quick charge is ceased.

In the conventional technique, a large amount of current is applied at the initial stage of the quick charge. Accordingly, quick recharge of the battery which has already been charged causes an upsurge in the temperature of the battery, thereby impairing the life of the battery.

In addition, because of the influence of the large amount of current as shown in FIG. 6A of the accompanying drawings, an overdischarged battery having a large portion of its capacitance discharged sometimes shows a voltage phenomenon similar to the voltage drop of -ΔV which occurs when fully charged despite the fact that the battery has not yet been fully charged. For this reason, it was necessary to prohibit the detection of -ΔV during a predetermined period, that is, between three and five minutes or thereabouts from the initiation of the quick charge. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6B, if the quick recharge of the battery that has already been fully charged is effected, it was impossible to stop the quick recharge at least during the foregoing predetermined period independent of whether the battery is fully charged or not, thereby accelerating the deterioration in the life of the battery due to the uprise in the temperature.

Regarding the secondary battery, there are available several types of secondary battery such as a type A battery having charging characteristics wherein the battery shows a sharp decline in the terminal voltage at the end of the charge after having achieved a peak value and a type B battery having characteristics wherein there occurs an upsurge in the temperature of the battery.

As disclosed in Japanese Patent Applicatin Laid-open No. 190226/1990, a conventional battery charger is provided with -ΔV charge control means for controlling a charge by the detection of the voltage drop (-ΔV), and ΔT charge control means for controlling the charge by the detection of uprise in the temperature (ΔT). With the help of such means, the conventional battery charger can be applied to all types of batteries having different charging characteristics by selecting the control means dependent on the type of battery.

However, even in the case of secondary batteries having the same charging characteristics, each of the batteries may have a different value. For instance, although both the Nickel-Cadmium battery and the Nickel-MH battery have type A battery characteristics such that a gradual increase is brought about in the terminal voltage from the initiation of charge, and a sharp decline occurs after the terminal voltage has achieved the peak value, they are different from each other in the level of voltage drop ΔV. Specifically, the level of voltage drop of the Ni-MH battery is smaller than that of the Ni-Cd battery.

Thus, the conventional technique is not fully applicable to the several types of batteries having similar charging characteristics, and consequently it was necessary to limit the battery to be installed in the conventional battery charger to only one type of battery.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to reduce the deterioration in the life of the battery to a minimum even when commencing a quick recharge of a fully charged battery.

It is another object of this invention to prevent the occurrence of a pseudo voltage drop (-ΔV) in the initial stage of the quick charge.

It is further object of this invention to effect optimum charge dependent on the type of a battery by automatically changing charging conditions in response to the type of the battery.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a quick charge control apparatus for effecting the quick charge of a secondary battery, comprising:

a charging circuit for supplying a charging current for quick charge use to a secondary battery;

constant current means for controlling the charging current from the charging circuit to be a predetermined value;

switching means for switching a current value of the constant current means in steps; and

control means for controlling the switching means in such a way as to increase the value of the charging current in steps every predetermined period in the initial stage of charge.

Since the step increase in the value of the constant current is effected every predetermined period at the initial stage, it is possible to prevent the deterioration in the battery's life by suppression of the rise in temperature even if an attempt is made to recharge a fully charged battery. Moreover, the prevention of the occurrence of a pseudo -ΔV occurring in the initial stage of charging the overdischarged battery results in no necessity of inhibiting the -ΔV detection during a predetermined period, thereby achieving the prevention of the deterioration in the battery's life and also the facilitation in control.

The constant current means is preferably comprised of a detecting resistor for detecting the charging current and a comparator for comparing two input signals representative of a voltage at both terminals of the detecting resistor with each other. With such a configuration, the amount of charging current can be controlled responsively to the output of the comparator.

The switching means is preferably composed of a plurality of resistors in series at one end thereof connected to a reference voltage source and at the other end thereof connected to one signal input terminal of the comparator, and a plurality of transistors connected across the plurality of resistors. As a result, the ON-OFF control of the transistors enables the switching of the charging current in steps.

More preferably, the switching means is provided with a timer for outputting a signal representative of the elapsing of a predetermined time, whereby the step switching of the charging current is effected by the ON-OFF control of the transistors of the switching means, using the signal representative of the elapsing of the predetermined time outputted from the timer.

The switching means is further provided with voltage detector means of the secondary battery and voltage drop detector means for supervising the voltage value detected by the voltage detector means and detecting the occurrence of a voltage drop of a predetermined value. With such a structure, the control means maintains the current value at a predetermined value when the charging current is increased up to a predetermined value, but ceases the flow of the charging current for quick charge use responsively to the detection of the voltage drop by the voltage drop detector means.

According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided a quick charge control apparatus for controlling the quick charge of a secondary battery, comprising:

voltage drop detector means being composed of peak holding means for storing a maximum value of the voltage value, subtracter means for producing a difference between the maximum value and a detected voltage value, and comparator means for comparing the difference produced by the subtracter with a predetermined threshold value;

a holder portion capable of selectively holding a plurality of types of secondary batteries;

a charging circuit for supplying a charging current for quick charge to the secondary battery;

completion identifying means for detecting variations in the voltage value of the secondary battery which are being charged, and identifying the completion of the quick charge, and the completion identifying means detecting a drop in voltage value from a peak value by a predetermined value after the voltage value of the secondary battery having reached the peak value;

charge controller means for controlling the charging circuit so as to cease the supply of charge currents when a signal is supplied from the completion identifying means and the completion of charge is identified;

discriminator means for discerning the type of a battery placed in the holder portion; and

changing means for changing a predetermined value to be used when the completion identifying means detects the completion of charge corresponding to a result from the discriminator means.

Thus, the type of battery is discerned by means of the discriminator means, and the completion of charge is changed dependent upon the result of discrimination. Hence, optimum charge control can be effected dependent on the characteristics of the battery. Practically, as with the Ni-Cd battery and the Ni-MH battery, optimum charge control can be effected even in the case of a plurality of batteries being different from each other in the voltage drop from the peak value and having almost the same charging characteristics, thereby enlarging the applicability of the charge control apparatus.

The discriminator means may consist of a switch which is opened and closed corresponding to the shape of the battery situated in the holder portion. With such a discriminator means, the difference in shape of the battery dependent on the battery type enables the switch to be opened and closed, thereby discerning the type of battery.

The changing means can be composed of storing means for storing a plurality of predetermined preset values of the voltage drop from the peak value corresponding to the battery type, and reading means for reading a corresponding predetermined value from the storing means in response to the result of the discriminator means.

The type of battery should preferably be restricted to only two types, that is, the Ni-Cd battery and the Ni-MH battery.

The completion identifying means may further include the secondary battery voltage detector means and the voltage drop detector means for supervising the voltage value detected by the voltage detector means and detecting the occurrence of a drop in voltage by a predetermined level from the peak value.

The voltage drop detector means may further include a peak holding means for storing a maximum value of the voltage, substracter means for producing a difference between the maximum value and the detected voltage value, and comparator means for comparing the difference produced by the substractor with a predetermined threshold value.

According to a further aspect of this invention, there is proposed a quick charge control method, involving the step of effecting the increase of a constant current in steps every predetermined period in the initial stage of the quick charge period. This quick charge control method further includes the step of terminating the quick charge when the battery voltage drops from the maximum value by a predetermined value upon detection of the voltage of a secondary battery during the quick charge period.

Both the organization and operation of this invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof may best be appreciated by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 (1A-D) is a flow chart showing the contents of processing steps in a quick charge control apparatus according to one embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 (2A-B) is a schematic block diagram of the quick charge control apparatus according to one embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 3 (3A-B) is a detailed circuit diagram of the quick charge control apparatus according to one embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 4 (4A-B) is a diagrammatic representation of voltage waveforms and current waveforms produced in the quick charge control apparatus according to one embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 5 (5A-B) is a schematic representation of the main structure of the quick charge control apparatus according to one embodiment of this invention; and

FIG. 6 (6A-6B) is a diagrammatic representation of voltage waveforms and current waveforms produced in a conventional quick charge control apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings is a block diagram showing the schematic structure of a quick charge control apparatus according to one embodiment of this invention. A main unit 1 of a data processor such as a personal computer is provided with two removable battery packs consisting of, for example, a Ni-Cd secondary battery or a Ni-MH secondary battery. One terminal of an AC adaptor/charger 3 is connected to an AC plug 4, and the other terminal of the AC adaptor/charger is connected to the main unit 1 via a cable 5. The AC adaptor/charger has a dual function, namely, an AC adaptor function of converting an a.c. voltage into a d.c. voltage for supplying to the main unit and a charger function of effecting charge of the battery pack 2.

The main unit is comprised of a DC plug for connecting between the main unit and the cable 5, a main unit power circuit 8 for supplying a voltage to a load 7 after having performed DC/DC conversion of the source voltage, a power switch 9 placed along a power supply line, a quick charge detector switch 10 for detecting ON/OFF status of the power switch 9, a switch 11 for identifying the type of a battery, a diode 12 connected to allow current flow from a terminal HP2 of the DC plug 6 to an input/output terminal of the battery pack 2, and a diode 13 connected to allow current flow from the input/output terminal of the battery pack 2 to a terminal HP1 of the DC plug 6.

At the primary side of a power transformer 14 of the AC adaptor/charger 3, there are provided a line filter 15, a rectifier circuit 16, a smoothing circuit 17, a primary coil 18, a switching element 19, a PWM control circuit 20 for controlling the ON-OFF operation of the switching element, and a photo transistor 211 which acts as the receiving portion of a photo coupler 21.

At the secondary side of the transformer, there are provided first and second coils 22 and 23, a rectifier circuit 24 and a smoothing circuit 26 in pair, and a rectifier circuit 25 and a smoothing circuit 27 in pair are connected to the coils 22 and 23, repsectively. The output of the smoothing circuit 26 is selectively connected to either a terminal P1 of a DC plug 29 via a contact point S1 of a relay 30 or a terminal P2 of the DC plug 29 via a contact point S2 of the relay 30.

Moreover, the output terminal of the smoothing circuit 26 is connected to a constant voltage circuit 31 and a current detector circuit 32. The output terminal of the constant voltage circuit 31 is connected to a constant current circuit 33 and a photo diode 210 of the photo coupler 21 in order to secure the constant voltage and current of the power source. The control of the constant voltage circuit 31 and the constant current circuit 33 is executed under the control of a microcomputer 34. At the microcomputer 34 are inputted switching outputs of a quick charge detector switch 10 and a battery type changeover switch 11 placed on the main unit through terminals P3, P4 of the DC plug 29 and detecting signals of an open circuit battery/-ΔV detector circuit 35 and a short circuit battery detector circuit 36. A driver 38 of the relay 30 and a driver 39 of an LED 37 are controlled by the microcomputer 34.

The other output of the smoothing circuit 27 on the secondary side is connected to a trickle charge control resistor 40 for supplying a trickle charging current to the battery pack 2 through the terminal P2 of the DC plug 29.

In this embodiment, the trickle charging current Ir is set to 150 mA with less than 0.1 C where 1 C is the charge of a battery, by a 1 A current, which has a capacity of discharging a 1 A current for one hour when fully charged, and the voltage of a supply line 42 becomes 23 V when the battery is open circuit due to the absence of a battery. When in the adaptor mode, the contact point of the relay 30 is turned to the switch S1, and a 16 V constant voltage is supplied over the supply line 41. In the meantime, when in the quick charge mode, a contact point of the relay 30 is turned to the switch S2, a 23 V constant voltage is supplied over the supply line 42, and the value of the constant current is increased in steps with the elapse of time, as will be discussed later.

FIG. 3 shows a specific structure of the AC adaptor/charger 3, and detailed description will be given thereof.

The microcomputer 34 is comprised of a ROM 51 for storing a program and each ΔV value of the Ni-Cd battery and the Ni-MH battery, a RAM 52 for storing a voltage BV which is detected in response to the input from the COMP terminal, a peak voltage PEEK of the input voltage BV, several types of flags, that is, INF, SHORTF, BATF, and DELTA for use in controlling the charge, as will be described later, and a timer 53 including a safety timer, a short timer and a charge timer, and a -ΔV.

The open circuit battery/-ΔV detector circuit 35 is comprised of a sawtooth waveform voltage generator circuit 60 composed of a capacitor 601 and a transistor 600 for outputting a reference voltage V1 of a sawtooth waveform in response to a pulse signal PWM whose pulse width is modulated in such a manner as to increase a duty ratio sequential from the microcomputer 34, a comparator 61 for comparing the sawtooth waveform reference voltage V1 with a resistance divided voltage Vs, of the line 42, and a transistor 62 which is turned on and off in response to the output from the comparator 61 for inputting the same output to the COMP terminal. The open circuit battery/-ΔV detector circuit 35 delivers a signal representative of a result of the comparison between the resistance divided voltage Vs and the reference voltage V1 to the COMP terminal.

Here, the voltage Vs is set to be nearly equivalent to a maximum value of the reference voltage V1 when the voltage of the line 42 is 22 V, and a minimum value of the V1 is 0 V. As a result, when the DC plug 29 is disconnected from the DC plug 5, or when the battery is open circuit due to the absence of the battery, the voltage of the line 42 constantly exceeds the 23 V and 22 V, and hence a high signal is continuously fed to the COMP terminal. When the DC plug 29 is connected to the DC plug 5, and the battery is situated in the holder, the voltage of the line 42 drops to the battery voltage, and hence the input signal to the potential of the COMP terminal is changed between positive and negative in accordance with variations in the reference voltage V1. Consequently, the microcomputer can recognize whether or not the DC plug 29 is connected, or whether the battery is open circuit or not.

Further, where the potential of the input signal to the COMP terminal is inverted between positive and negative is a level where the reference voltage V1 having been increased from 0 V becomes equivalent to the voltage Vs. Therefore, the voltage of the line 41 can be known from a corresponding reference voltage V1. In addition, since the reference voltage V1 is determined by the pulse signal PWM, the microcomputer 34 can recognize the voltage of the line 42, that is, the battery voltage from the signal PWM when the potential of an input signal to the COMP terminal is inverted.

The open battery/-ΔV detector circuit may recognize the voltage of the line 42 by converting the voltage directly or by dividing the resistance, and then effecting analog-to-digital conversion of the once converted voltage.

The shorted battery detector circuit 36 is comprised of a comparator 64 for detecting a drop in the voltage of the line 42 less than 10 V, and transistors 65 and 66 which are turned on and off dependent on the output from the comparator 64. The transistor 65 is connected to the relay driver 38, and the transistor 66 is connected to the negative terminal of the comparator 61.

The constant voltage circuit 31 and the constant current circuit 33 will now be described hereinbelow.

The constant voltage circuit 31 is comprised of the resistor R1, the photodiode 210, and the shunt regulator in series, and the series resistors R2, R4, R5 having a voltage dividing junction A connected to the Vref terminal of the shunt regulator 70. The Vref voltage of the shunt regulator 70 is always constant, and a value of the resistors is changed so as to maintain the voltage at the junction A at constant. R3 and C3 are components to prevent oscillation.

A transistor Q1 is connected in parallel with the resistor R5, and at the base of the transistor Q1 is inputted a signal T0 from the microcomputer 34 via the resistor R7.

With such a structure, the rise or the drop in the voltage V0 of the line 42 results in the increase or the decrease of the current flowing to the photodiode 210 due to variations in the amount of currents flowing through the shunt regulator 70 caused by a change in the potential at the juncture A, or the Vref, and the current flowing into the photodiode is fed back to the PWM control circuit 20 by means of a phototransistor 211. The PWM control circuit 20 operates in such a manner that a switching element 19 is turned on and off so as to cause the voltage V0 to be decreased or increased in order to maintain the voltage V0 at constant.

Since

    V0={1+R2/(R4+R5)}Vref,

(R4+R5) is limited only to R4 when the transistor Q1 is ON. Since the Vref is always constant, the voltage V0 becomes high. In this embodiment, the voltage V0 is changed from 16 V to 25 V by turning the transistor Q1 off.

The constant current circuit 33 is comprised of series resistors R13, R12, R11, R10, R9 connected between the terminal C of a current detector resistor 32 for detecting a charging current supplied to the battery and the output terminal of the constant voltage regulator 63, a comparator 71 having a positive terminal connected to a voltage dividing junction D of the series resistors and a negative terminal connected to the terminal B of the current detector resistor 32 via a resistor 8, a diode 72 connected between a juncture E, which is interposed between the photodiode 70 and the cathode of the shunt regulator 70, and the output terminal of the comparator 71 in such a fashion as to allow current flow, and transistors Q2, Q3, Q4 connected in parallel with the series resistors R13, R12, R11, and at each base of which is inputted each signal T1, T2, and T3.

In this circuit, when effecting quick charge of the battery pack 2 situated in the battery holder, a current flows from the line 41 in a direction designated by an arrow to the current detector resistor 32 via the battery pack 2. A rise or drop in this current causes an increase or a decrease in the output of the comparator 71. In response to this variation, the amount of current flowing through the photodiode 210 via the diode 72 is also decreased or increased. This current flow is fed back, and acts so as to decrement or increment the current flowing through the current detector resistor 32, consequently maintaining the current at constant.

When the signals T1, T2, and T3 are changed from H to L, the transistors Q2, Q3, Q4 are turned on to cause the resistors R13, R12, and R11 to be short-circuited, thereby increasing the reference voltage at the juncture D which is the positive terminal of the comparator. Hence, the value of the constant current flowing in the current detector resistor 32 is increased. In practice, corresponding to the signals T1, T2, and T3, the value of the constant current is changed, for instance, 1A=0.6C, 1.7A=1C, and 2.5A=1.5C in steps. At this time, if all signals T0 to T3 are high, the value of the constant current is selected to be 3A=0.2 C.

In the embodiment, two types of battery, that is, the Ni-Cd battery and the Ni-MH battery can be used and each type is recognized by its own characteristic structure as shown in FIG. 5.

Specifically, a microswitch 91 is provided at the holder portion of the battery pack. In the case of the Ni-Cd battery 200, as illustrated in FIG. 5A, the battery has no protruding portion which presses the switch 91, but in the case of the Ni-MH battery 201, the battery has a protruding portion as illustrated in FIG. 5B at the position corresponding to the switch.

When the Ni-Cd battery 200 is situated in the holder 210 provided on the main unit as designated by an arrow, the switch 91 is out of contact with the battery 200, so that the switch 91 is remained off. However, when the Ni-MH battery 201 is situated in the holder, the protruding portion 202 presses the switch 91 to turn on. The output about the ON-OFF operation of the switch 91 is then fed to the microcomputer 34 by way of the HP4 and P4 of the DC plug. The switch 91 may be manually operated.

Again referring to FIG. 3, an LED driver 37 is composed of a red LED 370 and a green LED 371, and an LED driver 39 is made up of two transistors 390 and 391.

With reference to the flow chart of FIG. 1 and the waveform of FIG. 4, the operation of the charge control apparatus according to this invention will be described in detail hereunder.

When an AC plug 4 is plugged in a power outlet, the AC adapter/charger 3 is reset to be turned on, and the internal state thereof is refreshed. Then the microcomputer 34 change the signal T0 to be low. As the result of this, the transistor 38 is turned off, and relay 30 makes a contact with a contact S1, and hence the AC adaptor/charger 3 enters the adaptor mode for supplying a 16 V constant voltage from the line 41 to the plug terminal P1 because the transistor Q1 is OFF. When in this mode, with the battery being situated in the holder, a trickle charging current below 0.1 C is supplied to the battery pack 2 from the line 42 through the coil 23, the rectifier circuit 25, the smoothing circuit 27, the trickle charge control resistor 40, and the terminal P2.

As shown in the flow chart of FIG. 1, the microcomputer 34 judges whether or not the DC plug 29 of the AC adapter/charger 3 is connected to the DC plug 6 on the main unit 1 on the basis of the input to the terminal COMP, and whether or not the battery is open circuit. If the connection of the DC plug 6 is established, and if the battery 2 is situated in the holder, the ON-OFF status of the power switch 9 on the main unit 1 is judged. If the state of the power switch is judged as being ON, it will be checked whether or not the internal inhibition flag is 0. When the INF is 0, the charge control apparatus enters quick charge mode. The inhibition flag INF is set to 1 when the usual quick charge is completed, but set to 0 when the DC plug 6 is disconnected or when the battery pack 2 is removed. Accordingly, the necessity of the quick charge is decided upon whether or not the flag INF is 0.

In the quick charge mode, the microcomputer 34 switches the contact of the relay 30 from S1 to S2 by changing the signal H0 to be high and driving the relay driver 38, and increases the supply voltage from the line 41 up to 25 V by turning on the transistor Q1 of the constant voltage circuit 31 if the battery is open circuit. In addition, the microcomputer 34 turns on the transistors Q2 to Q4 by changing the signals T2 to T4 to be high to start a 0.2 C quick charge. Concurrent with the start of the quick charge, the operation of a safety timer 530 and a charge timer 531 are started. The potential of the line 42 turns to be the same potential as that of the battery 2.

After 0.2C charge has been commenced, the microcomputer 34 judges the type of the battery on the basis of an input about a battery type detector switch delivered from the terminal P4. In the case of the Ni-Cd battery, the microcomputer changes the flag BATF to 0, and causes the red LED 370 to illuminate by driving the LED driver 390. In the case of Ni-MH battery, the microcomputer changes the flag BATF to 1, and causes the LEDs 370 and 371 to illuminate by driving the drivers 390 and 391 so as to allow the LED 37 to glow.

The microcomputer 34 makes a judgment whether or not twenty seconds have passed from when the 0.2C charge is started by the use of the charge timer, and the transistor Q2 is turned on by changing the signal T1 from high to low so as to increase the value of constant current up to 0.6C if twenty seconds have already passed. Every elapsing of twenty seconds on the charge timer, the signals T2 and T3 are changed from low to high, and the constant current value is increased from 1C to 1.5C in steps, as shown in FIG. 4A. In accordance with the increase in the constant current value, a battery voltage BV shows a gradual increase as illustrated in FIG. 4A, and it will be understood that there arises no pseudo peak voltage which occurs in the prior art as shown in FIG. 6A because of the abrupt application of a large amount of current at the initial stage of charge. The suppression of pseudo peak voltage is more effectively achieved by increasing the number of steps in changing the constant current value.

During each cycle of the quick charge cycle between 0.1C and 0.5C, as designated by STEPs A, B and D, the connecting status of the DC plug, the status of open circuit battery, and the status of the main switch are always detected. In case the DC plug is disconnected, the battery is removed, or the main switch is turned on, the quick charge is ceased, and the LED 37 is turned off.

The microcomputer 34 stores a larger value in a RAM 52 as a PEEK value by effecting sampling of the battery voltage BV at a constant cycle and comparing a previously sampled value with a recently sampled value. If the recent sampled value is lower than the PEEK value, the microcomputer recognizes the occurrence of a peak voltage.

After the peak voltage has arisen, there is made a judgment whether or not a difference between the peak value and the most recent sampled battery voltage BV exceeds either the ΔV for the Ni-MH battery or the ΔV for the Ni-Cd battery which is advancedly stored in the ROM, and if the difference is beyond the ΔV, the occurrence of the -ΔV is recognized.

The decision that either the ΔV for Ni-MH battery or the ΔV for Ni-Cd battery is used is made upon the status of BATF representative of the type of the battery. If the difference value continuously exceeds the ΔV for one minute on the ΔV timer, the battery is judged to be fully charged. Then the inhibition flag is changed to 1, and the quick charge is completed, as shown in FIG. 4A. Particularly, the AC adaptor/charger reenters the adaptor mode after having changed the signals T0 to be low, T1-T3 to be high, and the contact of the relay 30 to S1, and the trickle charge of the battery 2 is effected.

Elapsing of one minute is detected by utilizing the flag DELTA being set to 0 when no -ΔV occurs on the basis of the judgment of the DELTA status, the setting of DELTA to 1 when-ΔV arises, the start of the timer, and the judgment of one minute elapsing.

If no peak voltage or -ΔV is detected after eighty minutes have passed from the commencement of quick charge, a safety timer 530 ceases the quick charge.

During each charging cycle from 0.2C to 1.5C, the judgment whether or not the battery is abnormal, that is, short circuited is made upon the decision of whether the battery voltage BV is less than 10 V or not.

In detail, a short timer checks on whether or not the status in which the battery voltage BV is below 10 V lasts for more than thirty seconds. If this happens, the occurrence of short circuit battery is recognized to cease the quick charge, and the LED 37 is blinked in red in the case of the Ni-Cd battery, and blinked in green in the case of the Ni-MH battery dependent on the battery type in response to the flag BATF. The blinking of LED is terminated by disconnecting the DC plug or removing the battery.

Upon completion of the quick charge cycle, the processing of the microcomputer 34 returns to the start of the flow chart shown in FIG. 1A. Then a judgment is made on the connection status of the DC plug and the status of the open circuit battery. If the DC plug is disconnected or the battery becomes open circuit, the same judgment is iterated by changing the inhibition flag INF to 0. If the DC plug is connected, and the battery is not open circuit, the status of the power switch and the inhibition flag INF are successively judged. If the power switch 9 is ON and the inhibition flag is 1, the processing returns to the start without changing the INF. The AC adaptor/charger enters quick charge mode only when the INF is 0.

This means that once the battery 2 has been charged by quick charge, the structure of the apparatus is designed to prevent inadvertent quick charge to be effected without removing either the DC plug or the battery 2. In other words, if the charge control apparatus is used with the DC plug disconnected after the quick charge, the quick charge is effected without fail by coupling the DC plug or replacing the battery with a new one with the DC plug connected.

FIG. 4B shows an overcharged state in which an attempt is made to recharge the fully charged battery by the quick charge. According to this invention, since the charging current is gradually increased in steps in the initial stage of the quick charge as has been mentioned above, there occurs only gradual increase in the battery voltage. As a result, the increase in the temperature due to the charge can be suppressed as low as possible when compared with the conventional battery charger shown in FIG. 6B, thereby preventing the deterioration in the life of the battery.

Moreover, in the conventional apparatus, a 1.5C quick charge was necessarily continued for a few minutes determined by the -ΔV detector timer even though there occurs the peak voltage occurs. On the contrary, according to this invention, the charge can be completed by performing -ΔV detection in response to the occurrence of peak voltage except a waiting period for sixty seconds in the step charge mode. Thus, the period of overcharge is reduced, and it becomes possible to suppress the uprise in the temperature more than ever.

Several embodiments of the invention have now been described in detail. It is to be noted, however, that these descriptions of specific embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles underlying the inventive concept. It is contemplated that various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention will, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, be apparent to persons skilled in the art. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A quick charge control apparatus for effecting quick charging of a secondary battery during a charging period which includes an initial stage at the beginning of the charging period, comprising:(a) a charging circuit for supplying a charging current for quick charge use to the secondary battery; (b) constant current means for effecting control so as to maintain the charging current from the charging circuit to the secondary battery at a selected value; (c) switching means for effecting step switching of a current value of the charging current from the constant current means; and (d) controller means for controlling the switching means in such a manner as to cause a step increase of the value of the charging current supplied to the secondary battery during successive predetermined periods in the initial stage of the charging period.
 2. A quick charge control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the constant current means includes a detecting resistor for detecting the charging current and a comparator for comparing two input signals representative of a potential across the detecting resistor with each other, and the constant current means controls the amount of the charging current in response to the output of the comparator.
 3. A quick charge control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the switching means includes a plurality of resistors connected in series between a reference voltage source and one of the signal input terminals of the comparator and a plurality of transistors for respectively connecting across each of the plurality of resistors, and the switching means switches the charging current in steps by controlling the ON-OFF status of the plurality of transistors.
 4. A quick charge control apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a timer for producing an output signal representative of the elapsing of a predetermined time, and the switching means changes the value of the charging current in steps by controlling the ON-OFF status of the transistor, using a signal representative of the elapsing of the predetermined time from the timer.
 5. A quick charge control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising voltage detector means of the secondary battery, and voltage drop detector means for supervising the voltage value detected by the voltage detector means and detecting a drop in the voltage value by a predetermined value from a maximum value, and the controller means maintains the current value at a predetermined value until the charging voltage reaches the predetermined value, and terminates the charging current for quick charge use responsively to a result of the voltage drop detector means.
 6. A quick charge control apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the voltage drop detector means includes peak holding means for storing a maximum value of the voltage value, subtracter means for producing a difference between the maximum value and the detected voltage, and comparator means for comparing the difference produced by the subtracter means and a predetermined threshold value.
 7. A quick charge control apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a plurality of values can be set as the threshold value of the comparator, and these preset values are changed corresponding to the type of the secondary battery.
 8. A quick charge control apparatus for controlling the quick charge of a secondary battery, the quick charge control apparatus comprising:(a) a holder portion capable of selectively holding a plurality of types of secondary battery; (b) a charging circuit for supplying a charging current for quick charge use to the secondary batteries; (c) completion identifying means for detecting variations in the voltage value of the secondary battery which is being charged, and identifying the completion of the quick charge, and the completion identifying means detecting a drop in the voltage value from a peak value by a predetermined value after the voltage value of the secondary battery has reached the peak value; (d) charge controller means for controlling the charging circuit so as to terminate the charging current when a signal is fed from the completion identifying means and the completion of charge is identified; (e) discriminator means for discerning the type of battery placed in the holder portion; and (f) changing means for changing a predetermined value to be used when the completion identifying means detects the completion of charge in response to a result of the discrimination from the discriminator means.
 9. A quick charge control apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the discriminator means is composed of a switch to be opened and closed corresponding to the shape of the battery to be situated in the holder portion, and each type of battery has its own shape.
 10. A quick charge control apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the charging means includes storing means for storing a plurality of predetermined preset values of voltage drop from the peak value corresponding to the battery type and reading means for reading a corresponding predetermined preset value from the storing means in response to the result of the discriminator means.
 11. A quick charge control apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the type of the battery involves a Nickel-Cadmium battery and a Nickel-Metal hydride battery.
 12. A quick charge control apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the completion identifying means includes voltage detector means of the secondary battery and voltage drop detector means for supervising the voltage value detected by the voltage detector means and detecting a drop in voltage by a predetermined value from a maximum value.
 13. A quick charge control apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the voltage drop detector means includes peak holding means for storing a maximum value of the voltage, subtracter means for producing a difference between the maximum value and the voltage value, and comparator means for comparing the difference produced by the subtracter means and a predetermined threshold value.
 14. A quick charge control method for effecting the quick charge of a secondary battery with the use of a constant current during a charging period which includes an initial stage at the beginning of the charging period, the method comprising steps of:conducting a charging current through a charging circuit to the secondary battery; maintaining the charging current in the charging circuit at a selected constant value; and causing an increase in the consist current value during successive predetermined periods in steps in the initial stage of the charging period.
 15. A quick charge control method according to claim 14, further comprising detecting a voltage of the secondary battery during the charging period, and completing the quick charge upon detection of a drop in the battery voltage by a predetermined value from a maximum value in said detecting step. 